


I still like your smile (even if it has too many teeth)

by Sadisticsparkle (sadisticsparkle)



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Adventure, Avengers Vol. 3 (1998), Capwolf, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Magic, Mutual Pining, Nonverbal Communication, POV Tony Stark, Protective Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21970831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadisticsparkle/pseuds/Sadisticsparkle
Summary: It has been a lifetime since Tony last saw the Mansion and the Avengers, but his relationship with Steve is as confusing as ever. They're still sleeping together, they're still officially friends and now he's lost in a magical forest with a wolf tracking his every move.He hates magic.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 170
Collections: 2019 Captain America/Iron Man Holiday Exchange





	I still like your smile (even if it has too many teeth)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [diabla616](https://archiveofourown.org/users/diabla616/gifts).



> Hi, diabla616! I super hope you enjoy this. Thank you for giving me the excuse to write Capwolf:D
> 
> This is set during the first issue of Avengers v3, right after Franklin Richards brings the heroes back from the dark depths of v2.

The storm raged over New York, but Tony knew that the walls of the Mansion would withstand it. They had been built to last and they had weathered worse. Inside, it was warm, he had good company and Jarvis’ tea looked delicious, even it was too hot to drink through a straw. Maybe he should have visited earlier…

“This seems overdue, somehow — we’ve been back for a while, but it took this… situation… to bring us together,” Jan said, sipping her tea with all the distinction an expensive education could buy.

It was true and symptomatic of how the Avengers worked. Of course they had needed something like former Avengers being attacked at random to meet again. But even if those were the reasons, it had been… pleasant to see everybody again, to fall back into old routines. Jan’s bright energy, Jarvis’ caring presence, even Hank’s grumpiness, and Steve’s everything. The second he had seen Steve again, the second their eyes had met across the room, he had felt _real_ again. Ever since Franklin Richards had brought them back from the fake universe, he had felt fuzzy around the edges. But now it was clear that the one life that mattered was the one he had spent with Steve. 

And along with his memories, the bitter murmur of his pining had also come roaring back. They had been to _a different universe_ , turned into different people and yet it had taken only one look for them to rush back to where they had started. After fifteen minutes of bland small talk, they had ended up in Steve’s room, panting and covered in sweat, still confused, still tip-toeing around whatever their relationship was. Nothing had changed. He still didn’t want to ruin it by rushing into a commitment. Steve still didn’t know what he’d be getting into — or rather, he knew, but he was too stubborn to care. Tony had to protect him. Kisses in the dark, with fumbled caresses after battles and their comfortable camaraderie had to be enough. All Tony had to do was to keep avoiding the type of conversation that started with earnest pleas to talk about feelings. He couldn’t do that. Whatever he felt for Steve was too unwieldy for words. “I’ve been in court, reestablishing my identity…” Tony said, when a cackling resonated across the Mansion, his whole body tingled and a white light blinded them. The last thing Tony thought before the world faded away was ‘I hate magic’. 

How could he not hate it? Magic always involved things like waking up sore, disoriented and naked in the middle of a forest. Grass was scratchy, wind was cold and there wasn’t enough light, no matter how brightly the moon shone. He didn’t recognize the stars that littered the sky. Fantastic. Wherever he was, it wasn’t Earth. A magical dimension of some sort. An alien planet. If he had been lucky, it would have been Camelot. He at least knew his way back from Camelot. But he couldn’t see any castle on the horizon, only more and more trees, a never-ending sea of green shadows swaying softly in the chill of the night. 

“Hey, guys?! Are you here? If you are, this isn’t funny!” he yelled, but he found only silence. The rest of the Avengers weren’t there. He was alone and defenseless and he had no idea where he was. What had happened to everybody else? Had they been taken also or were they staring at an empty place where Iron Man had been? Was the armor standing empty in the middle of the Mansion’s living room? He missed it. Its sensors, the ability to fly, the weapons. He shivered. Right. Cold. He had priorities — find shelter, find food, find armor, find his way back home. He was a creative man, but since all he had at his disposal were trees, he was left with only one option. He curled against one of the trees, hugging his knees, and hoped it’d shield him from the elements. He had fallen asleep in worse places, after all.

Dawn interrupted his uneasy sleep, warming him up slowly. He stood up and stretched. Each one of his limbs ached and the bark had scratched against his back, but at least he was alive. Even if all he could see were trees but he had to try and find his way around the forest. He climbed up one of the trees — hoping his more private parts wouldn’t get scraped by the bark — until he found a branch that looked like it could hold his weight. He stood upon it, bobbling like a very drunk bird, and looked around. The clearing was still empty — no sudden superheroes had shown up during the night. 

But there was good news. Not far from he was, a small stream crossed the forest. That meant he had access to water. And if there was anybody else trapped there, they would need water too, so it was his best bet. All he had to do was follow the stream. He climbed down carefully until he got to the lowest branch. Then he jumped down and managed to land elegantly and without spraining his ankles.

“Too bad Cap isn’t here to see it,” he said to nobody in particular. “He would have been proud.”

He looked down and gasped. The soil under the tree was filthy with paw prints. Big, big paw prints. They could be a wolf’s prints, but only if the wolf in question was the size of a horse. The only upside was that the beast wasn’t around, because if it had been, Tony was sure he would have been dead. He rushed to the stream, trying to put as much distance between the prints and himself as he could. 

“Fuck!” he screamed. Running had been a bad idea because he had stepped on a pebble and there was a small cut in the sole of his foot now. Why was he barefoot? Why couldn’t he have arrived in the damned forest with his clothes? They were nice, expensive clothes. They fit him. They made him who he was, but now he was naked, his foot hurt and he was hungry. Thirsty too, but at least he could hear the singing sound of the stream getting closer. He dragged himself to it, cursing all the while. It turned out to be a slow, shallow strip of water sauntering lazily across the forest. He sat on a flat grey stone next to it and plunged his foot into the water. The coldness of if alleviated the pain and shook Tony out of his funk.

He had to get back home and he couldn’t afford to whine. He had no time for it. Once the pain had subsided and the blood had stopped flowing, he started walking downstream, following the twists and turns of the stream. He kept calling out for anybody and getting only birdsong in reply. There was nothing but flowers and berries he hoped were edible, until his walk was cut off by a pile of branches as tall as he was. The branches hadn’t fallen naturally from the trees — they had been torn by… a storm, maybe.

It didn’t matter — it was almost dusk and he was near water, so he’d make use of the branches and build a shelter for the night. He could think about the mystery in the morning.

“I could have been an architect,” he said, half an hour later. He was proud of his work. A shelter he could sleep comfortably in, with no fear of collapse because he was a great engineer and very good at improvising. It had been worth the splinters. He grabbed the remaining branches to make a fire — temperature dropped a lot at night and he was still naked —, when he saw a flash of bright blue fabric underneath them. He flung the branches aside and pulled the fabric. His stomach flipped. It was as he had suspected — the fabric belonged to a very familiar blue uniform.

He had checked the area before building the shelter and he had been making a lot of noise, so he was sure Steve wasn’t around. Which only worried him further. The uniform, but no Steve in sight, meant Steve had been captured. Or worse. The uniform was torn but there wasn’t any blood, so if Steve was hurt, it hadn’t been so bad. But with a wolf around… Tony shivered. Was Steve okay? He screamed his name, but soon he stopped. Night was falling and he didn’t want to attract the attention of the wolf or things like it. He finally made the fire, right in front of his shelter — wolves were afraid of fire, weren’t they? — and ate some berries. He needed his strength and he needed to rest if he wanted to find Steve the next day.

“I’ll find you,” he promised to the night air, but nobody answered. Only he could do was slink back into his shelter. Despite the fire, it was still cold and the soil wasn’t the most comfortable mattress. He grabbed the uniform and covered himself with it. Steve would understand.

_Help me, Tony. Please._

Blood flowed from the deep gashes that covered Steve’s body. His uniform was torn and his hair matted with mud. The wind howled and two yellow eyes shone brightly between the trees. But it didn’t matter because Steve was hurt and Tony knew what he had to do. He ran to Steve, not caring about the pain in his feet. A blood-curling howl crossed the forest and then…

Then Tony sat up. Steve wasn’t there, that had been a dream, but the howl… the howl had been real. And he knew where it had come from — across the fire, two bright blue eyes stared at him. Fuck. It was a wolf, probably the same wolf that had made the paw prints. Tony flinched, but the wolf didn’t make a move. Was it an evil magic wolf? Did it know Tony was easy prey and was playing with him? Was it a good idea to scream or would it anger the wolf? He wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of his anger. Since the wolf wasn’t moving, Tony wouldn’t either, but he wouldn’t go back to sleep either. He stared back, in a tense stand-off, until the sun came up again. The wolf stood up shakily, turned around and ran into the forest.

“Well, that was rude,” Tony muttered.

He remained in place for a while. What if the wolf came back? What if it had gone searching for his friends? Tony was in no shape to fight off a poodle, let alone a wolf pack. His mouth was dry and he was feeling the beginning of a cold. His stomach made a noise. Damn it. He had to find more food, soon.

“Fine. Whatever. Worst-case scenario, I get eaten,” he said and crawled out of his crude shelter. He drank some water from the stream, using his hands. It tasted heavenly and he hoped it was safe to drink. He munched on some of the remaining berries. They were bitter, with a mysterious acid aftertaste Tony hoped wasn’t poison. “A healthy breakfast. Steve would be proud.”

Steve. That was his main priority. He had to leave soon, keep searching for his friend and try to out-walk the wolf. It wasn’t a normal wolf, that was for certain. Maybe it was the guardian of the forest or another prisoner. Or maybe it was a monster sent by whoever had kidnapped him. He’d miss the shelter, but all he could do was keep walking and pray he’d somebody else or at least some clues. He had very little to carry — just some berries and Steve’s uniform. It still smelled like Steve, or at least he imagined it did, but that wasn’t why he decided to wear it even if it was a bit loose. There were far more practical reasons for that -- he was cold and being naked in the forest was dangerous. Too bad it didn’t have more pouches.

The fresh smell of pines and the playful silver sound of the stream distracted him as he continued his march downstream. He had to admit that, despite the danger and despite the isolation, the forest was beautiful, wild and untamed like very few forests back on Earth. He could pretend it was a leisurely walk, except the soil was wet and slippery and he had to pay attention to where he stepped.

Focused on his task, he almost missed the random splash of white, red and blue in the middle of all the luscious greens. But it was too familiar to miss it. It was incongruous to find Steve's shield carelessly propped against a tree. He ran towards it, not caring about the branches hitting his face or the way the gravel dug into his soles. Steve would never part with the shield. Never. It was the true love of his life and if Steve didn’t have it… No. He refused to think about that. When he got to the tree, he fell to his knees and took it, his heart racing. It wasn’t damaged — not even a scratch — and it was the real deal. There was no blood and there were no messages. Just a lone shield, holding no clues whatsoever. He held it against his chest and hoped his owner was close by.

But no matter how many times he searched the bushes and looked under every pebble and checked every tree, there were no further clues of Steve’s whereabouts. Tony’s mind filled with images of Steve tied up somewhere, captured by enemies or trapped in some animal’s lair. Hurt. Waiting for help. Waiting for Tony.

“Where did you hide, Cap?” he said, staring at the forest. It looked more foreboding the darker it got. 

Right, night was coming. He would at least make a fire, but there would be no time to make a shelter this time, not when his legs were shaky and his stomach growled. He’d drink some water and then he’d eat some eggs he had stumbled across during his search. Hopefully, he'd find a way to cook them. To make sure he didn't die of dysentery, he put the shield over the fire and filled it with water.

They said that a watched pot never boils, but there wasn't much to look at instead. Only the eggs. He eyed them. Then he eyed the shield. And then, with a shrug, he broke the eggs over the hot shield and watched them cook. He half-expected Steve to storm out of the forest and scream at him about it, but it didn’t happen. He was still alone and Steve was still lost and all he had for dinner were burnt eggs without any seasoning. The good news was that for a starving man’s mouth, everything is a feast.

He wasn’t sure what other things were stalking in the night, so he decided to sleep on a tree this time. It wouldn’t do to get eaten before he could save Steve or even figure out where he was. There was an oak that looked promising, with wide branches that were low enough for Tony to reach. He climbed up, carrying the shield on one hand, until he found a branch he liked. He leaned his back against the trunk. It was more comfortable than he thought it’d be, with the uniform shielding his skin from the scratchy bark, but he barely managed to sleep anyway. The birds woke him up even before dawn.

“Damn,” he said when he looked down. The wolf was there, curled under the tree, snoring softly. 

After two days of only berries and eggs à la shield, his stomach hurt. There was no food up there on his tree and Steve was still out there, hurt. He couldn’t stay on the oak forever — he needed a plan to get away from the wolf. He peered down again to check on it. Thankfully, it was still asleep. Maybe he could jump between the trees until he was away from the wolf. He slid across the branch, but the tree started to creak. The beast opened its eyes and lifted its head. Then it whined, like an overgrown puppy. Tony would have felt sorry for it if he wasn’t busy being terrified.

“Okay. No moving or the wolf will eat me. No going down or the wolf will eat me. And if I stay here, I starve. Come on, Stark, you’re good at coming up with plans in unwinnable situations.” 

The wolf kept whining but Tony kept ignoring it. What did it want? To play fetch?

“Sorry, not coming down. You’re gonna have to make me fall.”

The tree shook when the wolf rammed against it. Fuck. He needed to learn to shut his mouth. The wolf kept slamming against the tree. The astonishing battering wolf. Tony clung to the shield. He didn’t want to lose it like he had lost Steve.

“Oh. Right. I have a weapon.”

He grabbed a nearby branch with one hand. His hand got covered in splinters, but he didn’t want to fall. With his free hand, he threw the shield at the wolf. And the damn thing avoided it, with a fancy somersault. It was a circus acrobat, on top of everything else. It sniffed the shield with idle curiosity and then ran towards the tree again. A branch and then another fell to the ground. Then the tree itself made a very dangerous crack. It was going to fall. If Tony was lucky, it’d fall on top of the wolf, but Tony had never been lucky and anyway, he didn’t want to fall alongside the tree. He let go of the branch and jumped down. Remembering all his training with Steve, he rolled and got into a fighting stance. The wolf didn’t do anything at first, just tilted its head and stood where it was. Tony started shuffling backward and _that_ made the wolf whine again. 

“Okay. No moving.”

The wolf turned back and tossed him what looked like… well, a very dead rabbit. Tony was hungry enough it looked appetizing, but who knew where it had been (besides the disease-ridden mouth of a wolf). The wolf howled.

“Happy now?” Tony said, picking up the rabbit. He could have sworn the wolf was smiling. Smugly. Probably hunger playing tricks on him. He swung the rabbit towards the wolf again. “I’m not going to eat raw rabbit,”

The wolf howled a second time and threw it back. It was the grisliest game of Frisbee Tony had ever been involved in. 

“Fine. But I’ll only keep it if you let me make a fire.”

He moved towards the fallen branch, under the vigilant stare of his furry benefactor. He dragged it to the spot he had used for the previous night’s fire. The fire was roaring in no time — one of the few upsides of being a superhero was that he had amassed a weird list of skills. He sat down next to it and started the not-so-pleasant process of cooking the rabbit. A sharpened stick was enough to cut through the thin hide and with a grimace, he tore it off the rabbit. All that was missing now was removing the innards and waiting until the fire did its job. Through it all, the wolf remained in its spot, pinning Tony in place with its impassive eyes.

“Are you a gourmet wolf and you want a new chef with opposable thumbs? Is that it?” he asked, before digging into the rabbit. No seasoning, but at least it was better than the eggs.

The wolf wolfed down all the bits of the rabbit Tony hadn’t been able to eat, no matter how hungry he was. Maybe now it’d leave and Tony could put some distance between him and his furry stalker. But instead of doing that, it sat down, pleased and wagging its tail like a giant puppy. 

“Well, at least one of us enjoyed it. But while I’ve enjoyed your delightful dinner party, I think it’s time we parted ways.”

The wolf lifted its head and narrowed its eyes. Did it… did it understand what Tony said? Damn it. Tony prepared himself for an attack, but the wolf didn’t move. It was focusing on something above Tony’s shoulder.

“Oh, damn. You’re having more guests?” he said, turning around.

Something big and lumbering was approaching. Maybe it had been the rabbit’s smell. Maybe it had been the noise of the confrontation. The only thing Tony was sure about was that he didn’t want to face whatever it was. But it was too late already — a clumsy spiky thing was standing in front of them, huffing and growling.

“Okay, bring it on.”

The hedgehog charged but before it could hit Tony, the wolf jumped past him and body-slammed the monster. That was Tony’s chance to escape, so he ran towards the stream. But then he heard the wolf whimper. He looked over his shoulder — there was blood coming out of the wolf’s side. The hedgehog’s spikes were sharper than he had thought.

Tony had to keep running. He had to. This was his chance. The wolf whimpered again. He grabbed Steve’s shield and turned around. He wouldn’t be as good as Steve with it, but it was better than nothing. (Steve. He hoped he was doing okay even if the forest was endless and full of danger.) The wolf was growling at the monster, which seemed to be readying itself for another charge. Its spikes glistened with the wolf’s bright blood and its tiny beady eyes shimmered with malice (or at least Tony thought so — he had been known to embellish things). When the monster started running, Tony threw the shield at it. It connected and the monster shuffled back a bit, but instead of ricocheting back to Tony, the shield fell next to the monster. He’d ask Steve for more training when they were back home because Tony was going to defeat the hedgehog and then he was going to find Steve and save him. They’d find a way back home and figure out who had sent them to the forest. He wasn’t going to lose his life so soon after he had returned. He wasn’t going to lose Steve again.

The monster recovered and ran towards the wolf again. Tony needed another weapon, fast. He didn’t have much time but luckily finding weapons was the one thing he was good at. The area was empty except for trees and the roaring fire. Of course. That was the solution. Tony grabbed a branch and shoved inside the fire. The fire crept up the branch greedily and when the torch was ready, Tony brandished it at the monster. The hedgehog backed away in a panic.

“Yes. This is fire and it’s scary. Go back where you come from, beast.”

The hedgehog was paralyzed and then it was hit by a familiar blur of white, red and blue that ricocheted back into the forest. Only one person could have done that.

“Steve! Steve, are you there? Are you okay?” he screamed into the forest. 

The hedgehog slumped, with one pitiful final cry. A figure came out of the trees, but it was only the wolf, still bleeding. The wolf, with the shield in its mouth. With his blue eyes fixed on Tony. With its stubbornness and its protective streak. It was so obvious. How hadn’t he seen it before?

“… Steve?”

The wolf… well. The wolf _nodded_. Tony fell to the ground. He wasn’t surprised, but he couldn’t help being surprised. It was a contradictory state of mind. But he had found Steve and that's all that mattered.

“You need to stop turning into a wolf, you know.” He knelt in front of the wolf and examined the wound on its side. “Does it hurt?”

Steve didn’t make any noise, which meant he was trying to be stoic and deny any discomfort. So he was still himself, just a bit furrier.

“I’ll try to take care of the wound the best I can. Wait here.”

Tony walked to the stream with the shield and brought back some water. He washed his hands first and then he washed Steve’s wound carefully.

“Yes, I know, really undignified use of the shield. But at least your wounds look worse than they are. They’re superficial, barely scratches. Do you know if you’re a super wolf? Or just a normal one?”

Steve tilted his head.

“Of course you’re very big, but maybe that’s the curse and not the Serum.” Tony washed his hands again. The water inside the shield turned bloody. “Steve, while you were alone, did you… see anybody else?”

Steve whined. Clearly not, then.

“We’ll follow the stream and maybe… well, maybe we’ll find them. And we’ll go back home soon. I promise.”

He started walking to the stream when the wolf bowed down and tried to look over his shoulder. Tony frowned.

“Oh. No. That’s… that looks uncomfortable and you’re still hurt. Hey, don’t do that. You can’t make literal puppy eyes. That’s unfair.”

And that was how Tony found himself riding Steve.

Literally.

“How is this our life?” he said and held onto Steve’s fur. Steve’s fur smelled like smoke and blood, nothing like Steve usually smelled like — but that made sense because Steve wasn’t usually a wolf. Tony closed his eyes, tired. He knew he couldn’t fall asleep, especially because Steve kept running and it was a very bumpy ride. The forest rushed past Tony's eyes, but no matter how far they traveled, there was still no sign of Jan or Hank.

Steve didn’t stop until the sun was setting down when he stopped near a small cave next to the stream. Tony slid down while Steve sniffed the air. Whatever he had found pleased him because he then entered the cave and curled down to sleep.

“I’ll go make a fire, okay?” He started walking but something stopped him. He turned around — Steve’s teeth were holding him back by the uniform. “What? It’s very cold. I need something to keep me warm.”

The wolf pointed at his stomach with his head. His warm, fuzzy, soft stomach. Tony felt sleepy just looking at it.

“You… really think the solution to everything is cuddles, don’t you?” Tony said, settling down next to Steve. He leaned against him, letting warmth and sleep engulf him.

It was the best sleep he had had since he had arrived at the forest — and, in all honesty, the best sleep he had had in a long time. Probably since the last time he had allowed himself to cuddle with Steve. Most times, one of them stole away from the bed right after they were done. Pillow talk could be dangerous and the quiet right before dawn could lead to confessions neither of them wanted to make. Steve was already awake, but neither of them moved. Tony caressed Steve’s fur and listened to the steady beat of Steve’s heart. Maybe he could stay forever like that… but that’d be unfair to Steve.

“We need to turn you back into you. Do you remember where this… happened? Or did you arrive like this?” Tony asked. Steve finally stood up and cold invaded Tony’s body. Without any hesitation, Steve started running into the forest. Tony grabbed the shield and followed him, without any hesitation either. Tony doubted many things, but he knew where he belonged — by Steve's side. No matter what.

Steve stopped when he reached an eerie clearing. Almost no sound and almost no light penetrated the thick ring of old trees around it. No birds were flying around, no squirrels were running across the clearing and no flowers were on the ground. All Tony could see was a perfect circle of white stones. It was like something out of a fairy tale.

“I hate magic. It’s unsubtle, makes no sense and annoys me.” 

Steve huffed and trotted to the stones.

“I just needed to state it for posterity’s sake.”

Steve started sniffing the stones, one by one.

“That’s not going to help,” Tony said but Steve ignored him. Of course Tony wanted to investigate the circle too, but he had no idea what to look for. There were no marks, no hidden mechanisms, no booming voices explaining them the meaning of their quest because Tony’s life was always hard and the universe never gave him a break. “Where were you when this happened?”

Steve plopped down in the middle of the circle. That made sense. Probably some… portal or transmutation circle. He hated that he knew the words. Okay. He had to get closer to Steve. He lifted his left foot and put it down inside the circle. No tingling sensations, no fur, no nothing. He was still human. 

He crossed into the circle and sat in front of Steve. Nothing happened. Good. He didn’t want to deal with more weird spells. He only wanted to undo the one trapping Steve and get his friend back. But there was nothing he could do, was there? He didn’t know anything about magic. He didn’t know anything about anything.

“I wish I knew what to do. I wish I could bring us back. I’m sorry I can’t help you,” he said, carding Steve’s fur. It was soft and inviting, like Steve’s real hair was. Tony had always loved playing with Steve’s hair, but he had never got much chance to do it. Most of their nights together had been hurried. Moments stolen from the hurricane of their lives. Treasured secrets between the two of them that were fragile enough that Tony sometimes wondered if they were real at all. 

The wolf licked Tony’s face and Tony laughed before leaning forward and nuzzled Steve’s forehead. 

“Okay, I’ll stop with the self-pity... I just want you back. It’s hard saving the day without you. It’s… it’s hard doing anything without you.”

Steve stayed silent, with his eyes closed. Where they doomed to die like this? To never return home? Maybe they could… stay. Build a small cabin. Hunt rabbits. Tony could talk to himself and Steve could… be his wolf self. He was pretty much the same, all that was missing was his voice. He loved Steve’s voice, how warm and deep and steady it was. He tried to picture a future without it, without private jokes, without Steve’s laugh. Without the quiet conversations they used to have at the Mansion kitchen, just them and two cups of coffee. There’d be no more arguments about morals or TV shows, no old fashioned songs, no kisses... There’d be no Steve. No chance of making it better.

No. That was unacceptable. He was Tony Stark and he wasn’t going to let magic defeat him. He’d get Steve back. They’d get back home. He’d make things right.

“If… _when_ we get back, I want to do it properly. Take you out on dates. Go public with this. Tell everybody. Kiss you in front of the newspapers."

The clearing was even more silent now. He swallowed.

"I should have told you sooner, but we have such bad timing, don’t we? Battles, different universes, being on different sides of the country, brainwashing... I always thought there’d be some perfect moment when I would tell you and everything would be great and we’d never have problems again.”

He took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth.

“But there’s never going to be a perfect moment so… look, Steve. I love you. I love you like I haven’t ever loved anybody and like I’ll never love anybody else.”

As soon as he finished talking, the stones started shining and a buzzing filled the air. The wolf shrunk back and then Tony had to close his eyes because the bright shimmering light was too much. When he opened them again, Steve was in front of him, with a huge grin and no clothes. His favorite version of Steve. Steve lifted his hand to Tony’s cheek. His hand was soft, like the look in Steve’s eyes.

“I love you too, Tony.”

The words were... Tony had never felt like that before. A weight had been lifted off his shoulders and his chest was bursting with happiness. Like the first time he flew. Like nothing was ever going to go wrong ever again. He wanted to share it, to show Steve so he leaned forward and gave Steve the slightest of kisses. He had no opportunity to deepen it because the stones started humming again and the light shone even brighter and then… then the floor was soft like a very expensive carpet and the air was stuffy and that was _Morgan Le Fey_ and that was the Mansion’s living room. Hank and Jan were staring at them — Tony was still wearing Steve’s tattered uniform and Steve was completely naked and blushing from head to toe. They had some explaining to do but that would come later, once the wicked witch was dealt with.

“How could you escape?! The only key out of the Lost Lovers' Forest is…” Her eyes went wide. “True love!”

Oh, _magic_. Why was it always so… cheesy and so blunt? And why was Steve looking so damn pleased, smiling like a loon, when an evil sorceress was standing in front of them?

“True love?” Jan said, with a twinkle in her voice. “Anything you want to share with the class?”

“It’s a long story. Avengers, assemble!” he said because Steve clearly was in no state to do so.

They all turned towards Morgan, but it was for naught because when Hank tried to catch her with his fist, the room filled with green smoke. Her voice echoed in the living room — _Twilight shall come to the Avengers yet!_ — but when the smoke dissipated, she was already gone.

“Damn it. Why are wizards always like that?” Tony said.

“Well, who hasn’t dreamed of disappearing?” Hank replied.

“That’s…” Tony decided to ignore Hank’s remark. It brought up the phantom pain of the ghosts from his past. He suspected Hank understood how he felt. “Le Fey’s up to something. She tried to keep us out of the way and probably sent all those creatures to attack former Avengers, so she must be planning something big.”

Jan nodded, in full business mode. She looked every inch the leader she was. Thunder rolled outside the Mansion. “We need to alert all former Avengers. Ask them to come here to discuss the attacks and this… attempted kidnapping or whatever it was.”

“Do we have any news from Thor?” Steve asked. Even hiding behind a blanket Jarvis had brought him — they never thanked Jarvis enough, Tony thought idly --, he sounded like the boss. “This is right up his alley.”

“He hasn’t made contac…”

Before Hank had even finished his sentence, the windows slammed open and a furious wind smashed into the room. Jarvis dropped his teapot, but nobody cared because their eyes were on the hulking Asgardian at the window.

“Thy questions hath answers, Avengers, but answers, I fear, that might bring a deathknell — for Midgard and all life thereon!”

Looking at the imposing figure bellowing dark tidings in his particular dramatic way — Thor could never be the bearer of good news, could he —, Tony finally felt like he was home again. 

Tony had showered — it had been a great shower, particularly the bit where Steve had also been there, doing filthy things with his mouth — and was wearing his own pants, so he felt ready to meet all the Avengers that had been summoned. But before he could do so, there was one thing he had to do. One final test, worse than all the others. He opened the door to the hallway. There she was, leaning against the wall, smirking.

“Oh, shut up,” Tony said.

“Whatever happened to just a casual fling? Friends with benefits?” Jan said, picking up a conversation they had started… so many years ago, when he was still drinking and she was still married and they were all very different people and the world was a different place. But it didn’t matter, not for them. They’d always pick up the thread like it was yesterday. That’s what made the Avengers special.

He shrugged. He wasn’t so sure of what had happened himself and he was even less sure of what the future held. Not much had changed. He was still scared. He was still _him_ and Steve was still… Captain America. Steve Rogers. Utter perfection. 

“Magic. That’s what happened.”

“So now you can’t say you hate magic anymore.”

“I still do. I just don’t hate Steve.”

Steve came out of Tony’s room, shining with post-orgasm bliss and, well, what Tony hoped was true happiness. “I sure hope so.”

Tony wasn’t going to say it, but maybe he liked magic now. Just a tiny little bit.


End file.
